With his positive energy, Roland Trettl often puts people in a good mood behind the “First Dates” scenes. In an interview, the host of the Vox show reveals how he became the person he is today – and how his son Diego helped him.
Roland Trettl, 50, is the face of the Vox show “First Dates” and “First Dates Hotel”. The host always appears level-headed and balanced in front of the camera. But that was not always so. In the GALA interview, the TV chef speaks openly about the burnout he suffered about 17 years ago and how he overcame this difficult time. His wife Daniela, 43, and his son Diego, 9, were very important to him. The TV chef also reveals which strange ticks he has not been able to put down to this day. His son has even taken over one of them, which ends in “constant” arguments.
Roland Trettl is “not always just sunshine”
GALA:On “First Dates” they always seem in a good mood. Why is it that no one ever notices when you’re having a bad day?
Roland Trettl: Because then we don’t turn (laughs). Of course it was a joke. I seem in a good mood because I do what I enjoy in my life and approach everything positively. I can’t even imagine a day that’s so bad that I couldn’t shoot.
But I’m not always just this sunshine. When something isn’t working as it should behind the scenes, I address the bugs. Sometimes I’m not so nice about it.
Roland Trettl has been the host of the VOX dating documentary “First Dates – A Table for Two” since 2018.
© RTL / Stefan Gregorowius
What bothers you behind the scenes?
If the guest is not treated appropriately. But now we’re getting on well and I hardly know of a place that is as full of positive energy as a “First Dates” restaurant and a “First Dates” hotel.
It also annoys me terribly when, for example, a caterer doesn’t cook good food and the employees suffer as a result. For me it’s disrespectful when someone cooks for 100 people but doesn’t feel like it and serves bad food as a result.
You are always very tolerant towards the guests. Do you also have limits?
If the guest is disrespectful.
The guest is king, but he is in our castle and we call the shots.
“If something goes against the grain, I can freak out sometimes”
Have you ever had a tantrum?
Yes, several. I’m a very direct person. If something goes against the grain, I can freak out. I can’t remember the last tantrum though. I quickly forget that and I don’t hold a grudge. I would like it the other way around: if something is not good, I want someone to tell me clearly. And if I still don’t get it the third time, you can kick my butt. Then it serves me right.
© Helge Kirchberger
They look very balanced on TV. It wasn’t like that before you met your wife 13 years ago. At that time you smoked three packs of cigarettes a day, worked 100 hours a week, hardly slept and suffered from burnout. How could it come to this?
The work took up all the space and I didn’t realize it.
The work was my life.
I’ve lived in different countries, always dared to go into cold water, and at the age of 25 I was chef de cuisine in Mallorca. I always worked under pressure and was incredibly strict with myself, I didn’t let anything get away with me. At the same time, being single, I didn’t have anyone by my side telling me to take care of myself. At some point my body rebelled. To this day I have to force myself to listen to my body because I tend to fall back into the old ways. For example, I can work 16 hours a day without having eaten, drunk or sat down.
Was the burnout a wake-up call?
No, actually I ignored that. After a sudden hearing loss and a few infusions, I slowed down a bit for a short time, but then it went on as before.
Trettl suffered a burnout: The turning point came through his wife Daniela
When did the turning point come?
The turning point came through my wife, who has a better sense of my condition than I do. She is my personal speedometer and tells me when I’m going too fast.
How does your wife get you down then?
She suggested yoga to me. But we also keep talking and do a lot of things together. It’s enough for me to know that my wife is the person I always want to be by her side. I am doing well with my family and I would like to enjoy this for many decades to come. That’s what motivates me to take care of myself. Also, I feel I owe it to them to be there for them as long as possible.
I would like to experience many more things with my almost ten-year-old son.
I wanted to be able to run with him on the soccer field when I was 50. I couldn’t have done that if I wasn’t physically fit. If I decide to bring a new life into the world, then I have to be willing to be able to give something to the child.
Why didn’t you want more children?
My wife and I made this decision together. We felt that having a second child wouldn’t make us twice as happy. That’s why I got sterilized. We’re pragmatists.
That’s why Roland Trettl is constantly arguing with his son
They have some weird quirks, for example in the new First Dates setting they had to count all the blocks on the wall and you have your own toilet at work. Do you have any other weird habits your family has to live with?
There are. For example, I am very difficult when it comes to food, especially on vacation. I really need to know where I’m going to eat and be sure it’s good. Because when I get bad food, I’m unbearable. Also, I’m a bad loser and so is my son. We fight all the time because neither of us wants to back down. But fighting to win doesn’t have to be a bad quality.
Do you see your ambition as a positive trait, even though it has led you to lead such an unhealthy life?
What matters in the end is what you make of it.
If I were still living the way I was then, I would probably be dead by now.
But I learned from my mistakes and today I’m doing really well and I’m doing a lot of sport. Looking back, I can say that I used to do a lot of silly things with my body, but I probably just needed this life. I wouldn’t change anything either.
“The kitchen is a struggle”
Do you miss the gastro kitchen?
No! (laughs) I don’t miss her at all because I’ve experienced her intensively with all her facets for 30 years.
The kitchen is a battle that’s not just about the cooking, there’s the staff, the salaries, the laws and so on.
There is so much to consider that you can no longer concentrate on cooking. Of course I like to cook and like to make people happy with culinary art. I still do that privately in a kitchen club. Sometimes I spend two days in the kitchen there, but only because I want to and not because I have to. That’s exactly what I always wanted: I cook and entertain nice guests that I invited myself. No one comes in my house that isn’t respectful. You can’t always choose in a restaurant.